rflugge

is a 20 ga enough for ducks and geese, and how far would you shoot?

seadog3point9

It's possible to kill a duck or goose with a 20ga but I wouldn't encourage it - you'll wing a lot of birds and you may have a hard time recovering them. Generally you need more firepower. I shoot 12ga, 2 3/4 inch, No. 3 steel and I do very well with that but most guys are now shooting the larger 3 inch shells. Go 12ga if you can.

rflugge

I guess I should have stated I have a 870 super magnum and shoot 3 1/2' regulary...but I was just curious for smaller framed shooters that I hunt with and maybe my young cousin...thanks

seadog3point9

In that case I think 20ga makes sense. That's how my son got started. He wasn't ready for a 12ga but he could handle a 20ga pretty well and that's what he bagged his first duck with. I wouldn't recomend it in any other case but for young hunters I think it is OK.

PaintballB4Girl

I've taken geese with a .410... anyone who says a shotgun is not good enough for a goose or duck doesnt know his business. I often take my full choke, single shot 20 gauge out if i am jumping ponds with geese, so I can nail them in the head. I'd use 3 inch, 2 shot. Tungsten is always better but hey, my brother took a goose with .410, 3 inch ( I think it was 3), 4 shot. If that works, I'm guessin anything will.

It's all in the aim. Go for the head... If you dont get the head, hopefully you'll snap a wing

I just gotta hunt

seadog3point9

Ask anyone you want and you will find little support for using 20ga on ducks and geese and no support for using your .410. The issue is responsibility. But if you're not leaving cripples out there then I don't care what you shoot. Me? I do know my business. That's why I shoot 12ga.

Buck_Buster

The 20 ga. will be fine for ducks and geese. I would recommend that you go with a better nontox shell(like tungsten or bismuth) and not use steel. Especially for a young hunter since not as much lead is needed and has better knock down power. Having hunted geese since 12 years old I have seen plenty people take geese with a 20ga. and plenty that couldn't hit a goose with a 10ga. 3-1/2". It is all in the ability of the hunter and how good of a shot they are. NO more geese are left cripled with a 20ga. than a 12ga. Geese are left crippled by poor shooting

OhioDuckHunter

Amen Buck!

Bud Light

Go with some good ammo. Forget the steele and you can whack them. With a six duck limit, you shouldn't have to shoot very much anyhow if you wait till you can see their eyes. The geese will fold also if you wait for them to backpedal.

BPS-10

Ask yourself - What's different between 10ga, 12ga, 20ga? They all come out around 1300fps-1400fps so they start off about the same pellet energy. The smaller bores have less shot - so patterns are less dense, and maybe erratic for a large shot size at a long range with similar chokes. So what to do? In situations where you'd shoot IC choke in your 12, you may want to use MOD in your 20. Your overall pattern won't be as big, but if you don't overshoot you'll get good hits on birds *in range*. On longer shots, the pattern from your 20 may start to thin out too much for reliable kills on big/tougher birds where you're using large shot.